Mishkat Bhattacharya Headshot

Mishkat Bhattacharya

Professor

School of Physics and Astronomy
College of Science

585-475-6151
Office Location

Mishkat Bhattacharya

Professor

School of Physics and Astronomy
College of Science

Education

B.Tech., Indian Institute of Technology (India); MA, Ph.D., University of Rochester

Bio

Dr. Mishkat Bhattacharya is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a program faculty in the Center for Imaging Sciences at RIT and a member of the Center for Coherence and Quantum Optics at the University of Rochester. Dr. Bhattacharya received a B.Tech degree in Engineering Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Rochester. He held postdoctoral positions at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Arizona, and the University of Maryland, College Park, before joining RIT in 2011. Dr. Bhattacharya teaches freshman mechanics, modern physics, quantum mechanics, and quantum optics. He reviews regularly for journals such as Physical Review Letters, the Journal of Physics B, and the American Journal of Physics.

The Bhattacharya group is broadly interested in light-matter interactions from the perspective of fundamental science as well as technological applications. Currently, it is focused on the interplay of electromagnetic modes of radiation, such as laser light, with nanofabricated components, such as mechanical oscillators and rotors. Major aims are the cooling of macroscopic objects into the quantum regime and establishing the limits to quantum sensing of mechanical displacement, force, and rotation, for example. These investigations are expected to test the foundation of quantum mechanics as well as to yield next-generation sensors that circumvent the limits posed by quantum mechanics to their sensitivity. Some of the group efforts also go towards investigating other related platforms for quantum technologies such as ultracold atoms and molecules. The work is fully theoretical, involving mostly analytical calculations, using the techniques of quantum optics and atomic physics, and some medium-scale numerical work. Close collaborations exist with experimental groups locally, nationally, as well as internationally. The program involves researchers at every level, including undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students as well as postdoctoral scholars. Recent funding sources include the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, the Office of Naval Research, and the National Science Foundation.

585-475-6151

Areas of Expertise

Select Scholarship

  1. P. Kumar, T. Biswas, K. Feliz, R. Kanamoto, M.-S. Chang, A. K. Jha and M. Bhattacharya,
    Cavity optomechanical sensing and manipulation of an atomic persistent current, Physical
    Review Letters 127, 113601 (2021).
  2. R. M. Pettit, W. Ge, P. Kumar, D. R. L.-Martin, J. T. Schultz, L. P. Neukirch, M. Bhat-
    tacharya and A. N. Vamivakas, An optical tweezer phonon laser, Nature Photonics 13, 402
    (2019).
  3. K. Xiao, R. M. Pettit, W. Ge, L. H. Nguyen, S. Dadras, A. N. Vamivakas and M. Bhat-
    tacharya, Higher order correlations in a levitated nanoparticle phonon laser, Optics Express
    28, 4234 (2020).
  4. R. Sahu, S. Chaudhary, K. Khare, M. Bhattacharya, H. Wanare, and A. K. Jha, Angular
    lens, Optics Express 26, 8709 (2018).
  5. P. Kumar and M. Bhattacharya, Magnetometry via spin-mechanical coupling in levitated
    optomechanics, Optics Express 25, 19568 (2017), selected as Editor's Pick.
  6. B. Rodenburg, L. P. Neukirch, A. N. Vamivakas and M. Bhattacharya, Quantum model of
    cooling and force sensing with an optically trapped nanoparticle, Optica 3, 318 (2016).

 

Currently Teaching

PHYS-213
3 Credits
This course provides an introductory survey of elementary quantum physics, as well as basic relativistic dynamics. Topics include the photon, wave-particle duality, deBroglie waves, the Bohr model of the atom, the Schrodinger equation and wave mechanics, quantum description of the hydrogen atom, electron spin, and multi-electron atoms.
PHYS-610
3 Credits
This graduate-level course in mathematical physics covers partial differential equations, Bessel, Legendre and related functions, Fourier series and transforms.

In the News

  • April 12, 2019

    Graphic of a phonon laser using an optically levitated nanoparticle.

    RIT researcher collaborates with UR to develop new form of laser for sound

    The optical laser has grown to a $10 billion global technology market since it was invented in 1960, and has led to Nobel prizes for Art Ashkin for developing optical tweezing and Gerard Mourou and Donna Strickland for work with pulsed lasers. Now an RIT researcher has teamed up with experts at the University of Rochester to create a different kind of laser – a laser for sound, using the optical tweezer technique invented by Ashkin.